Game of the Month

Game of the Month: April 2008

April 2008 will most likely go down in history as the month that saw one of the biggest, if not the biggest, titles to ever hit the streets. We are of course talking about Rockstar's GTA4. Attacking friendly targets on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Niko Bellic's escapades hit a new benchmark for videogames in terms of both sales and impact in the general media. But surely April saw some other good titles? Yep, and we're bringing you the best of the best right here in our latest Game of the Month feature.

First-party Nintendo titles rarely disappoint. Mario Kart Wii continues this most welcomed trend and sees Wii gamers finally getting a taste of what true online multiplayer gaming should be. Aside from the familiar single-player content, MKW brings to the table some excellent online racing. Whether or not you're a fan of the included Wii Wheel controller is irrelevant. You'll find yourself coming back time and time again to race against other karters and bikers from around the globe simply because it's so much fun. The core game remains the same as usual, but the new additions make this one another great reason to invest in a Wii.

Did you think anything else would top Rockstar North's 800-lb gorilla? It's rare that games take on the proportions that turn them into events, and GTA4 is more than an event, it's a triumph for gaming. On the surface level, much of the game merely polishes the conventions established in the GTA3 trilogy. The reason GTA4 is among 2008's best is thanks to its narrative.

As Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant aiming to leave his violent past in the old country, you'll be thrust into a modern-day Liberty City that has Niko rubbing shoulders with a variety of unsavory figures, from mob bosses and drug lords to arms dealers and bank robbers. Along the way, however, his humanity and his loyalty to his wayward cousin Roman shine through. He's one of the most sympathetic antiheroes to grace a game.

But it's not just Niko's story. Liberty City itself lives and breathes on a grander scale than it could on the PS2 or Xbox. The urban landscape of pre-9/11 New York as seen through GTA3 has evolved into a sprawling metropolis filled with all of the raw humanity of the real-life Big Apple. It's easy to rattle off a laundry list of why GTA4 improves on its predecessors, but our most glowing endorsement is to ask why it's not in your 360 or PS3 yet.